Lions and unicorns

England’s footballers took to the pool after launching their 2018 World Cup finals campaign in Russia with a last-gasp win over Tunisia. Midfielder Jesse Lingard posted photographs of himself and several team-mates racing on inflatable unicorns with manager Gareth Southgate keen to keep spirits high for what proved to be an extended campaign.

Sweating it out

⏱️FULL TIME | Wales close out a win in Washington in a tight affair against Springboks to kick off their Summer Tour of the Americas. #WALvRSA

Warren Gatland and his coaching team found a simple way to try to acclimatise the Wales rugby squad to the heat of Washington DC as they prepared to meet South Africa at the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. The players trained wearing bin bags over their kit in an attempt to replicate average daily temperatures of 84 degrees fahrenheit, 29 celsius – and went on to win a tight game 22-20.

A lot of bottle

Australia coach Justin Langer came up with a plan to tackle Pakistan’s spinners (Adam Davy/PA)

Australia opening batsman Matt Renshaw revealed coach Justin Langer’s innovative method to ready him for the challenge of facing Pakistan’s spinners in Dubai in 2018. Langer placed bowling markers and empty plastic water bottles in areas where rough might appear on a fifth-day pitch in the nets in an attempt to reproduce the testing conditions under which he might have to bat.

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Boxing clever

Vasyl Lomachenko can "do it all in the ring" but can do even more in the gym – as you can see in this clip! ???

Ukrainian boxer Vasyl Lomachenko was banned from the sport by his father for four years and sent to dance classes to improve his footwork, and he continues to employ unorthodox methods in training. The WBA and WBO lightweight champion, who comprehensively defeated Briton Anthony Crolla in April, was taught to juggle and do handstands by his gymnast mother and uses both to hone his concentration when under physical and mental stress.

Sting in the tail

Sunderland’s Julio Arca was stung by a jellyfish after a dip in the North Sea (Tom Buist/PA)

Then Sunderland boss Mick McCarthy decided to use the North Sea as an ice bath for his players after a training session on Seaburn beach in August 2004, although the ploy was to backfire when Argentinian midfielder Julio Arca was stung by a jellyfish and had an allergic reaction. Arca’s day took a further turn for the worse when it was suggested that acid in urine might ease the pain, although he made a full recovery and went on to help the Black Cats to win the Championship title at the end of the season.